Palpable joy could be felt on Saturday as the first international flight landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
This comes after five months of closure of the Nigerian airspace due to the lockdown necessitated by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Middle East Airline (MEA), which took off from Beirut, Lebanon, made history as the first international flight to land anywhere in the country as it touched down at the MMIA at exactly 2.30p.m.
The aircraft was ceremonially welcomed with a water cannon demonstration by the officials of the Aerodrome and Rescue Fire Fighters, a Department in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Officials of FAAN, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Port Health Services (PHS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other relevant agencies were on ground to attend to the passengers brought in by the airline.
On arrival at the terminal, passengers presented their documents, including COVID-19 PCR test results for screening by the Port Health Services officials, while their travelling papers, passports and visas were handled by the immigration officials at the airport as expected.
Landing with just 200 passengers as approved by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 didn’t leave the officials on ground as much work to do as they were familiar with
The passengers, comprising Nigerians and foreigners, conducted themselves orderly and went through the protocols as approved by the PTF.
At the arrival and departure halls of the airports, the arriving and departing passengers observed the social distancing protocols, just as it was being currently observed on the domestic routes.
Speaking on the procedures, Mr Abdullahi Usman, Comptroller, NIS, MMIA, said the process was seamless and passengers were cooperative while travel documents were requested from them by the officials.
Usman explained that on arrival, Nigerians onboard need not to fill another travel card, saying that when necessary; the immigration service would give them the right form to fill.
“The control of the passengers start from the moment they disembark on the aircraft and you can see yourself how orderly things were done.
“The procedures remain the same. Social distancing is there. Nigerians have no need to fill another card.
“Once we have any other information to get from them, we will give them another card. We want to ensure seamless passengers clearance at the counters.”
Also, Mrs Victoria Shin-Aba, Regional Manager, South-West, FAAN, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government and the management of FAAN for ensuring a smooth return of flight services on the international scene.
